This awesome card from one of my favourite countries in the world comes from Christine in her little town in South Australia. This card, though, shows some of the enormous country’s most famous spots and where they’re located. So, since everyone (hopefully) can recognise Uluru in the top centre, I’ll go through them clockwise from there. Also known as Ayers Rock, Uluru is perhaps Australia’s most famous tourist destination, listed as a UNESCO attraction and covered in (pre)historical and natural beauties. Next is Whitehaven Beach, 7km long and situated on Whitsunday Island. Then Brisbane, Sydney (not Australia’s capital, by the way), the Three Sisters rock formation in the Blue Mountains – named Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo and surrounded with legends, Melbourne, Great Ocean Road – the world’s largest war memorial, built by returned WW1 soldiers between 1919 and 1932, Cradle Mountain – Tasmania’s number one tourist destination, Uluru again, Perth, the Pinnacles – limestone rock formations in Nambung National Park, the Bungle Bungle range – beehived shape mountains in Purnululu national park and then, of course, some cutesy kangaroos and a koala. Thanks so much for this Christine, I love it! I hope everyone knows a little more about Australia than they did before!
A Postcard Guide to The Land Down Under
The Channel Islands (USA)
One of my favourite cards of all time, this spectacular view comes from Igor and totally threw me when I received it. Of course, these Channel Islands are not the ones I live in and instead are a national park in California, USA. This is a place that without Igor, I would never have known existed, but he visited and was kind enough to think of me and share this wonderful card. He tells me that the islands are nicknamed the Galapagos of North America due to having over 150 unique species. They are also home to both the smallest fox and the largest seal in the world. Incredible! What an amazingly beautiful card (reminds me of Jurassic Park!). Thanks so much Igor!
Spectacular Finland
These fantastic cards came as a wonderful surprise from Sini in Finland and wow, they are beautiful. And such a cute envelope carrying them all to me too! So cute that I just had to post an image of it! Here you can see some of the rural scenes of Finland and of course the Aurora Borealis – the Northern Lights. Amazing!
The Stars Aligned…
This stunning card comes from Ania in Belarus and I just love this peaceful scene. She points out that you can see the moon, Venus and Jupiter all in this picture (although the scan has not shown Venus very well). Beautiful, unique choice of card! I love it! Ania tells me she is a student but her lifestyle is just schoolwork and a part-time job. Not fun – I can empathise! But her boyfriend has drawn a funny little cat on the card and I can see she smiles through the tough times. It’ll all be worth it in the end, I’m sure!
Venezuela’s Astonishingly Slow Postal System
Some of you may remember my longest travelled postcard, sent by Luis in Venezuela last year and taking 246 days to arrive with me. During that time, I messaged him to let him know I hadn’t received the card and on December 7th last year, he posted me this beauty which arrived on June 6th. That’s 182 days. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO. Impressive. Anyway, I sent him another card as a thanks for sending a second to me. This beauty shows Angel Falls – the highest waterfall in the world at 979 metres. It’s amazing and I love it! Luis tells me that it is located in the Canaima National Park which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1994. Spectacular card, and what a voyage it took to reach me!
Namaskaro
This stunning card comes from Natasha in Iceland and shows Namaskaro, one of the largest solfatara sites in the country which she says she plans to visit for the first time this month. Looks amazing!
The Kegon Falls
This spectacular card comes from my lovely friend Clarissa who was on holiday in Japan where she chose this beautiful card of the Kegon Falls for me. She tells me the place is lovely but crazily cold! Considering she’s from Singapore, I’m not surprised that she finds it cold. I just love this card, and the rainbow too – gorgeous!
A Guatemalan Package!
These beautiful cards and amazing 1 Quetzal note came as a lovely surprise from Erick in Guatemala. I absolutely LOVE these cards – I am in love with all things Mesoamerican anyway, so these were just perfect! The first card shows Central Park in Erick’s hometown and in it you can see the Town Hall and the main church. He tells me that over Christmas, the park is lit up with beautiful lights – sounds pretty! The hill in the background is called the Baul from where you can see the whole city – apparently at the top there is a cute little park which gets very busy at the weekends (not surprising really)! The second card shows the chain of volcanoes that cross Guatemala, with Atitlan Lake in the centre (very touristic). Many of the volcanoes are active but only a couple (Santiaguito and Pacaya) are considered dangerous. Erick tells me his hometown is close to Santiaguito! Absolutely stunning cards and so interesting too! Love, love, LOVE them!
The Iguazu Falls
This great card comes from Argentinian penpal Nau and shows the Iguazu falls on the Argentine/Brazilian border. He has drawn a little map to show where they are in relation to his town (a considerable distance away!) and tells me he has never visited them but hopes to one day. He also says ‘una imagen vale veras que mil palabras’ – a picture is worth a thousand words. So true! Awesome card!
Kamymsky Volcano, Siberia
This amazing picture comes from Elena in Siberia. It shows Kamymsky Volcano which is situated on the Kamchatka Peninsula, she tells me it has exploded twice in the past ten years and is actually a UNESCO site. Elena says she lives in a small town called Belovo but dreams of travel – especially to Spain and that she loves books, films and playing backgammon. Amazing card!
The World On My Doorstep 